Where do the actors live? The Chinese tourist gazes in Hallstatt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Chinese outbound tourism is hugely significant in Hallstatt (Austria), alongside its replica, Hallstatt (China) which is also consumed by Chinese tourists. But do the tourists in the latter contribute to outbound tourism? This paper investigates the relationship across both Hallstatts to reveal a complexity of tourists flows through identity discourses based on the reproduction and imagination of place. It incorporates a research methodology based on a qualitative case study, analyzing the discourses of virtual reproductions of place, not as separate entities, but as one unified image across time and space. A conceptual framework is afforded through a balance of ‘western’ tourism concepts (tourist gaze and staged authenticity) with Chinese concepts (xiaozi and shanzhai) to reposition Hallstatt and Hallstatt, not as original and copy, but through the imaginary, mimetic reproductions of Chinese outbound tourists. By reflecting on tourist representations and incorporating the vocabulary of authentic tourist experiences, both Hallstatts come alive through an intricate waltz of gazing, experiencing and desiring to de-familiarize familiar spaces while playing up the imaginary. We introduce the idea of ‘sight’ to elucidate a mimetic gaze, rather than place, in the shaping of both the Austrian façade and the unraveling of an emerging Chinese consumer identity.